New Acquisitions

Not Vital (1949)

Museum for 1 Picabia, 2009
Plaster, Plastic, 230 x 100 x 70 cm
Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur (with a contribution from the Willy Reber Stiftung)

In Brazil Not Vital created a series of drawings in which he explicitly dealt with architecture: An obvious topic for the artist since he creates many such bizarre constructions, not only in his park in Not dal Mot in Sent, but also in Agadez or in Patagonia. Works, which oscillate between object and sculpture, architecture and monument. One of these loosely dashed off pencil drawings onto which Vital collaged small plastic knives, was translated into the three-dimensionality of a sculpture: Museum for 1 Picabia. Not Vital thus makes the proposal as it were for a museum, the building costs of which are to be estimated approximately as high as the single work of art shown inside, in this case the picture Cure-dents of 1923/25 by Francis Picabia (1879-1953), which is in the Kunsthaus Zürich.

Not Vital was fascinated by the story according to which Picabia instructed his chauffeur to shop for things of every-day use in Paris. These commonplace things – toothpicks, drinking straws, and a piece of string – Picabia applied to the picture carrier and with it created a splendid flower still life. Not Vital also bought similar everyday things in Brazil, such as for example the small plastic knives. In China, where he has recently acquired a sculpture studio, he translated the drawing mentioned into a larger-than-man sized expressive plaster sculpture to which he applied several plastic knives, which are admittedly in a considerably enlarged irritating scale compared to the original plastic ones. These had to be handcasted, which could only be done in China.

Not Vital can envision his museum idea – a construction, a work of art – for other master pieces as well, for instance for Alberto Giacometti’s plaster sculpture Buste de Silvio: With each visit to the Bündner Kunstmuseum he feels that this admirable sculpture would merit a museum of its own.

Beat Stutzer